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Goldia steadied herself and looked at her surroundings. She was in what looked like the courtyard of a mansion. Rather than doors back inside, however, there were mirrors.
Goldia let out a sigh of relief. She made it in.
Two of the mirrors were down…
Harpae’s mirror was black, meaning she was probably the one out right now. Goldia smiled to herself; Harpae had been taking up hobbies again now that she could do what she wanted. Maybe she was painting or practicing an instrument.
Goldia hoped she was having fun.
Enjel’s mirror still had the cloth in front of it… She must not be up for visitors, then. Goldia frowned in concern. Enjel hadn’t been up for visitors in a long time… Goldia hopes she was okay.
Goldia steeled herself and looked at the remaining mirrors.
Out of all of them, Lisette had the most experience with this… she had made a circus, and an abandoned house, and a mirror maze, and a church, and that graveyard with the hill and the large white moon that Lisette was so fond of.
If any of them could help Goldia… it would be Lisette.
Goldia hoped she wouldn’t be bothering Lisette too much with this…
Goldia pressed her hand against Lisette’s mirror, which was adorned with white flowers growing around it. Goldia found herself going through the mirror.
Upon reorienting herself, Goldia found herself in the Graveyard,
The pale purple sky had a few stars in it, and the far-off town was as quiet and sleepy as always, even with the decorations that were reminiscent of a festival going on. The graves around her were numerous and unmarked. Goldia began walking towards the top of the hill.
There she was, as always. Lisette, sitting down amongst the white flowers and looking up at that bright white moon. White petals fell around them both like snow. Lisette’s scissors were in a pocket on her skirt.
“…” Lisette glanced at Goldia with a small smile and returned to looking at the moon. Goldia sat down next to Lisette.
“…You are… smaller again,” Lisette noted after they had gazed at the moon for a while. Goldia looked down at herself.
…Huh. She was smaller again. She felt to be about thirteen.
Goldia let out an embarrassed giggle.
“I keep trying to stay older, like the body, but I always end up like this after a while…”
Lisette didn’t respond. Goldia noticed herself becoming nervous.
“…Maybe you’re not… meant to be older, then…” Lisette trailed off and stared at Goldia intensely. “…I notice you tend to… hover between twelve and fifteen… Nothing wrong about that…”
Goldia averted Lisette’s gaze.
“Thank you, Lisette.”
Goldia could feel Lisette’s smile.
They went back to looking at the moon.
“…You need something.” It wasn’t a question. Goldia nodded, self-conscious.
“I want to make a world like the rest of you, but I don’t know how.” Goldia wrung her hands together. “You seem like you know the most about this, so I wanted to ask you.”
Lisette looked away from the moon. The petals were falling a little faster, now, almost like a light rainfall of flowers.
“…What kind of world are you thinking of?”
“…Um…” Goldia wracked her mind for an idea. “Maybe a cottage. The sun always glows, and it is warm.” It was a fuzzy mental image at best, but the feeling it gave her was one of security.
Lisette looked away from Goldia so that her expression wasn’t visible. Goldia guessed she was looking at the grave nearest to them, the one with the flowers wrapped around it.
“…It sounds like you.”
“Thank you?”
Lisette took Goldia’s hands and pressed their foreheads together. Goldia intertwined their fingers. Lisette had her eyes closed, and Goldia closed her eyes as well.
“Imagine walking to it,” Lisette said softly. “…The way the sun seeps through. The rustle of leaves. The warm air of the cottage…”
“…The breeze fluttering through the thin red curtains,” Goldia continued. It started to become more firm in her mind. “The crackling fireplace. The flowers in a vase on the table. There… there would be a plate of cookies, and it’s never empty.”
“…It sounds nice…”
“The door is one of those doors where the top and bottom halves are separate. And the top half is almost always open, so I can see whenever someone is coming and I can invite them for tea.”
Lisette hummed, voice croaky with exhaustion and overuse.
“Take me there,” Lisette said. Goldia snapped her eyes open and leaned back, but Lisette simply pressed herself closer to Goldia and burrowed her head in her shoulder. “…Guide me there.”
They stood up and Goldia guided Lisette by the hand to the exit of her world. They were in the courtyard again.
There was a new mirror.
It was gold like the rest, but rather than pink bows like Fleta and Egliette’s, or feathers like Harpae’s, or carved carousel horses like Enjel’s, or white roses like Lisette’s…
There was an apple tree. It was small, and its branches hung around the mirror with a few red apples and some pure white blossoms.
Goldia pressed her fingers against the mirror and almost sagged at the feeling of home radiating from it. She pulled Lisette through the mirror with her.
They braced themselves on each other when the mirror placed them in the woods. Goldia looked around them.
“Wow,” she breathed.
Lisette opened her eyes as well and took in the sight.
“…Warm,” she said. “…And pretty. It suits you.”
Goldia grinned brightly at Lisette.
“Thank you, Lisette.”
They continued holding hands as they walked through the dirt path and past the apple trees. Some had ripe-looking red apples, and others had apple blossoms gently fluttering in the breeze.
They both saw the house at the same time: a quaint wooden structure in the middle of a clearing, with an open half-door. The sun streamed in through the window and the red curtains, casting a warm glow into the cottage.
Goldia gestured for Lisette to sit on one of the chairs. Goldia set up a tea tray. On the table, there were a handful of flowers of different colors: pink, blue, white, red, and gold.
Goldia poured them both a steaming cup of tea and sat across form Lisette.
They ate and drank their tea in silence.
Goldia looked up at Lisette in between sips. Lisette’s eyes were tired, but her smile held a softness to it.
“Y-you can visit me anytime,” Goldia said nervously. She looked down at her teacup. “My door is always open to you.”
“…Thank you.” Lisette nodded with a shy smile. “…My world is always open to you, too… Goldia…”
The golden warmth of the sun could not compare to the warmth that radiated off of Goldia’s smile.
“Thank you, Lisette.”